Paul and Lucy Spadoni periodically live in Tuscany to explore Paul’s Italian roots, practice their Italian and enjoy “la dolce vita.”
All work is copyrighted and may not be reprinted without written permission from the author, who can be contacted at www.paulspadoni.com

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Montecharloween is a fine example of the increasing popularity of this spooky holiday among Italians

Halloween,
not celebrated much in Italy until the past 10 years, is experiencing
exponential growth, and we can feel the changes from one year to the
next. We were in Montecarlo last year and participated in the city’s
festa for Halloween, Montecharloween. Then we went again this year.

This long-legged spider was our
choice for best costume.

It was like a
passeggiata on steroids, with be-costumed families and groups of teens walking together,
mixing and mingling with acquaintances while watching a few street
entertainers and stopping to buy snacks at food booths or even entire
meals at the open air restaurants. We had been told that trick or
treat (dolcetto o scherzetto) was starting to catch on, and
last year we bought a sack of candy to pass out. We ended up eating
it ourselves though, as none of the many passing children came to our
door.

The face-painting booth was popular.

At
Montecharloween 2016, the crowd nearly doubled in size, making it
difficult to pass though via Roma because it was stuffed from wall to
wall. While we were eating dinner with some friends and then later in
the evening as well, trick or treaters rang our doorbell at least a
dozen times. Alas, we had no candy this year. The stores sell mostly only hard candies, so we should bring some from the U.S. next time.

This huge dragon welcomed visitors to the enchanted woods, held in the bank parking lot just across the street from our apartment. Lucy took this photo from our window.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

Entrance to the crowded haunted house.

We shouldn’t
be surprised at the increasing popularity of the event, because Italians enjoy dressing up and going out in the
evening—and staying out late. Montecharloween was scheduled for 6
p.m. to midnight, but many people came early and others stayed late, people still coming in at 11 .
I had promised Lucy that we would go in the haunted house (Il Tunnel dell'Orrore) this year,
but the line was long from the beginning of the evening until the
end, so we missed it again.

Montecharloween didn’t quiet down until
around 1 a.m. If the event experiences the same kind of growth in
future years, the city may not be able to handle the crowds. However,
there are still some quieter side streets, so the organizers have the
option to spread out the events and booths. It was for evenings like
this that we chose to live in Montecarlo, a town full of life and yet
still small enough that one can never get lost in the crowd.

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About Me

First off, before you hassle me about our title, Lucy thought of it. Yes, I know some people may think broad is derogatory, but the etymology is uncertain and she doesn’t find it offensive, and it made me laugh. We have been married since 1974 and are empty-nesters now, which allows me to bring my submerged Italophilia into the open. We first came to live in Italy from February-April in 2011 and have returned during the same months every year. From 2011-2015, we lived in San Salvatore, at the foot of the hilltop city Montecarlo, where my paternal grandparents were born, raised and, in 1908, married. In late 2015, we bought a home in Montecarlo. We come for a variety of purposes: We want to re-establish contact with distant cousins in both Nonno’s and Nonna’s families, we want to learn the language and see what it is like to live as Italians in modern Italy, we like to travel and experience different cultures. Even if we aren’t successful at achieving these purposes, we love Italy and enjoy every moment here, so there is no chance we will be disappointed. I am grateful to God for giving me a wife who is beautiful, clever, adaptable and willing to jump into my dreams wholeheartedly.